1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to shoulder fired firearms, such as rifles, shotguns and various types of tactical weapons. More particularly, the present invention concerns an adjustable sling device for a class of firearms typically referred to as “long guns” or “shoulder fired weapons” that enables shoulder fired weapons to be held tightly against the shoulder of the user during aiming and firing and causing the firearm to be returned substantially to its aiming position after the recoil impact of the firearm against the shoulder of the user has dissipated. Even more specifically, the present invention concerns a sling for long guns having a bipod mounted to the front portion thereof, the sling having a facility for attachment to the bipod and being easily adjustable for developing a traction force to urge the buttstock of the firearm against the shoulder of the user for aiming and firing of the firearm.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of firearm slings have been developed over a long period of time, typically for the purpose of facilitating ease of manually transporting the firearms. However, many firearm slings have been developed that can be set or adjusted to assist users in stabilizing and aiming firearms at the standing position, sitting position and the prone position. When a long gun, such as a rifle, is being used for long range shooting, where stabilized precision aiming of the rifle is critical to the accuracy and repeatability of the shooting activity, typical military type adjustable rifle slings are generally preferred. However, these types of slings are difficult to use and they typically permit a small degree of rifle movement during aiming and firing, and thus permit a certain degree of inaccuracy from the standpoint of bullet strike consistency.
Most of the adjustable slings of the prior art do not function to draw or urge the buttstock of a rifle tightly against the shoulder of the user, thus requiring the user to apply a manual pulling force to the rifle structure to hold the rifle tightly against the shoulder during aiming and shooting. The muscle energy that is used for pulling and stabilizing the rifle during aiming typically interferes somewhat with the delicate digital force that is typically used for carefully pulling the trigger of the rifle in sequence with maintaining the aiming point with respect to the target. Therefore, it is desirable to provide means for increasing the rearward pressure of a firearm against the shoulder of a user for stabilization for aiming and firing activity and for recoil force management, especially to enable highly accurate repetitive firing activities.
Various types of bipod mechanisms have also been developed over the years for assisting in supporting and stabilizing the forward part of a rifle when the rifle is used in a bipod stabilized position or when the forward part of a rifle is supported by some object when the user is standing, kneeling or sitting. Bipod devices are frequently employed when a rifle is being used for precision aiming and shooting activity. For the most part these bipod mechanisms are intended for attachment to forward parts of a rifle, such as being attached to the barrel or forearm. In the case of tactical rifles, such as the AR-15, a preferred position for bipod attachment is the lower forward end portion of the handguard that extends forwardly from the receiver of the firearm and encloses a major portion of the barrel. Typically, the bipod devices have a pair of downwardly extending legs that are arranged in downwardly diverging angulated relation and have ground engaging foot members at the lower end of each of the legs. For the purpose of rifle support and aiming, the foot members of each of the bipod legs are positioned in engagement with the ground or another suitable surface to stabilize and steady the forward part of the rifle. The user will position the buttstock of the rifle against the user's shoulder and raise or lower the buttstock of the rifle for precision aiming of the rifle in elevation. For aiming of the rifle from the standpoint of windage, the user will adjust the position of the buttstock, right or left as needed to align the sights with respect to the target.
For efficiency and precision aiming of a rifle and for maintaining the sights or sighting device of the rifle on target, it is desirable to provide a device, such as a rifle sling, that will facilitate drawing or urging the buttstock of a rifle user against the shoulder of the user with sufficient force to enhance the stability and steadiness of the rifle and facilitate precision aiming and efficient trigger control for precision shooting activity.